Critics are wrong to blame firefighters in tragic Philly blaze

There was a deadly fire in Southwest Philly over the Fourth of July holiday weekend that killed four kids. That’s a terrible tragedy.

However the fallout since the fire while not as tragic as the loss of four young lives is at the least misguided, potentially hazardous to the health of a city’s neighborhood and for sure out of line and irresponsible.

Surely none of us who has never lost a child to such a tragedy can feel what the parents of these children are feeling. There is absolutely nothing worse than the death of an innocent victim let alone in such a horrific event as a fire.

But since the fire mobs of angry residents of the 6500 block of Gesner Street have taken to protests at the fire stations that house the very men and women whose sole mission is to put out fires and save lives. Their rage lies in the notion that the fire department botched the response to the fire.

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It has gotten so bad that there have been arrests, protests and meetings of city administrators and neighborhood representatives. According to a story on Philly.com, Philadelphia City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson hosted a meeting at Philadelphia City Hall to try and minimize the tensions. Leading the charge is the father of two of the victims.

Patrick Sanyeah, father of the two, has been highly critical of the fire department and its response to the blaze, which engulfed eight rowhouses. The fire killed two of Sanyeah’s sons, 4-year-old Patrick Sanyeah and 11/2-month-old Taj Jacque; and 4-year-old twins Maria and Marialla Bowah.

According to Philly.com, Sanyeah said, “Don’t sit here and say you did something. You did nothing.”

The Philly.com story pointed out that the fire and the fire department’s response, has become a point of contention. Many of those who have protested say it took “an inordinately long time for crews to respond to a fire around the corner from a fire station at 65th and Woodland Avenue.” On Tuesday, the city released tapes of 911 calls related to the fire, as well as a timeline that showed firefighters responding within minutes, despite the first call being designated a lower-priority “rubbish fire.”

While no one is perfect and that includes the fire and police departments, to make the actions of the firefighters irresponsible, calling them murderers and killers does nothing to heal the wounds for a neighborhood that has suffered such a tragic loss of life.

We have had our own share of deadly fires here in Chester County. Our public servants – police and fire personnel – put their lives on the line for us each and every minute of every day. While it’s always easy to be Monday morning quarterbacks, these people are trained to keep our streets safe and to put out fires as quickly as they can – within reason.

If in fact the Philly firefighters responded within five minutes or so, what else can be expected? They followed procedures and did their best to put out a fire that eventually killed four young children. To even suggest the notion that they did any less is outrageous.